The present invention relates to an arrangement for controlling an engine, in particular of an aircraft, having at least one gas lever and a regulating device for the additional automatic driving of the gas lever.
Such arrangements are known and are common on the market in a wide variety of forms and designs. They serve in particular to control and start up an engine, for example of an aircraft.
A disadvantage with such conventional arrangements is that they do not provide sufficient safety if, for example during operation with an autopilot, the electric circuit or even the regulating motor fails.
It is then often disadvantageous that the pilot is not able to recognize the actual situation and position of the gas lever or the operating state of the engine.
This may have considerable undesirable consequences, in particular it may even result in aircraft crashing.
GB 2 114 717 A discloses a control arrangement for the active driving of, for example, a gas lever for controlling aircraft engines. In this case, the gas lever is in engagement with a spindle which has a small pitch and is designed to be self-locking. The gas lever can be driven only in an active manner via a drive motor which is connected directly or indirectly to the spindle. A disadvantage with this is that, if the electrical power fails, the spindle, in particular the gas lever, cannot be moved or driven manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,061 describes a control device for an aircraft, a gas lever being movable in an active manner via motors in order to indicate the current operating state of an engine.
The object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of the type mentioned at the beginning in which an engine can be permanently controlled manually and/or automatically in a simple, reliable and cost-effective manner.